On-chip Parallel Detection of Shiga Toxin Producing Escherichia Coli Using Loop-mediated Isothermal Amplification

Shiga toxin-producing Escheria coli (STEC) strains are virulent agents responsible for thousands of illnesses in the United States [1]. The most common and notorious STEC serotype is O157:H7 but other serotypes, like O104:H4 responsible for May 2011 HUS outbreak in Germany [2], are responsible for one third of STEC related illness. Beginning on June of 2012 the U.S. Department of Agriculture started a zero tolerance policy against six non-O157 STEC groups (the ‘big six’) that cause over 70% of the total non-O157 illnesses. The new regulation requires a 2 step quantitative PCR (qPCR) that makes the screening process more expensive and labor intense [3]. We are creating a biological microchip that will run parallel amplification of target DNA reducing time and cost of detection assays.